Travel Blogs from Mabul Island, Malaysia

We only stayed one night in Semporna, then it was off to MabulIsland for a few days to do some SCUBA diving. I hadn't been diving for about 3 years, and Laura hadn't been for months either, so we were quite nervous trying to remember ...

... /guesthouse. We had a great time with them and an awesome group of friends we met there and shared the dorm with. The island itself is tiny and covered with dive resorts and a village of phillippino people. Its just beautiful and super quiet. We went ...

... realised that the locals here live and survive much the same way as say the Thai or Vietnamese would. We arrived at MabulIsland, greeted by a similar scene to the one we had left behind in Semporna – rickety-looking over water shacks surrounded ...

... after our third day we were qualified open water divers and raring to get stuck in. Thankfully, a stone’s throw away from MabulIsland is a dive site called Sipadan, which is considered one of the top 5 dive sites in the world. But before ...

... each (10AUD) he he but when u normally pay half that it does seem expensive.
The next day we headed to Uncle Chang's on MabulIsland - about a 25 min bout ride away. Yes, there are many 'uncle' operations going, its given more as a sign of respect ...

Hanging on the island doing some snorkeling. 2 days at Uncle Changs Guest house and then 3 more days on SeaVentures oil rig about 1000 meters off the island. Diving atleast 2-3 times per day, including Sipadan. Just ...

... good. It had been raining all morning and there was no sign of it stopping. An hour later on the boat we arrive at MabulIsland, where Borneo Divers has this really nice resort. Four companies operate there. One of them has there resort on a disused oil ...

... but we saw heaps.....Schools of jack fish and barracuda at Barracuda Point. Lots of turtles and reef sharks at Sipadan itself. At Mabulisland we saw lots of critters and had some great muck dives. Flamboyant cuttlefish fighting over a female, a group of ...

... to the island. Normal practices, usually all guest will be picked up from Semporna Jetty and the boat ride is about 1 hour journey to MabulIsland. Our home-stay Arung Hayat has a boat pick up from the village, making the journey faster. We did one ...

... night before and with more or less the same group from the bar (less one out of action Irishman) we spent 45 minutes getting to Mabulisland which is nearly as far east as you can get and still be in Malaysian waters. Mabul was the spot for our next dive ...

With my Sipadan trip out of the way early, I had no other set plans except to spend my free week on MabulIsland helping out the instructors of Sipadan.com. I was helping with equipment set up, moving some tanks, moving all the used equipment from the ...

The Sea Gypsies are nomadic people with no country or nationality of their own. They spend their lives on tiny boats wandering from place to place. they do everything including cooking and sleeping on board. they collect sticks and cook on open fires ...

Well after 48 hours of travelling we have finally hit MabulIsland, An amazing array of obstacles and hiccups getting here that went something like: Arrive at airport......No one turns up to collects us.... find our way by taxi to Semporna (translated ...

... very glad I checked with them or I'd have missed my flight. The transfer takes a lot longer that usual as it's election day in Malaysia and there are long queues along the road as people go to the voting stations. We arrive with only a few minutes left ...

... dive and take an underwater photography class. I opted out on the night dive because of my ears. We decided to stay on MabulIsland in the long house because Scuba Junkies resort didn't have any rooms. After catching the boat and arriving at the jetty, ...